Then & Now: Cave Store still a draw

The La Jolla Cave store opened its doors in 1903, an enterprise of early la Jollan Gustav Schulz who dug steps down to Sunny Jim Cave and started charging visitors admission. For many years later it was operated as La Jolla Cave and Shell Shop. The shell shop closed in 1998 but the store, 1325 Cave St., continues today as a gift and curio operation as well as entrance to the famous Sunny Jim.

TRIVIA: The La Jolla Cave store overlooks how many caves?

Find the answer below. SCROLL DOWN

Seven

The Coastal Bluffs in 1903 - This is the area which the Cave Store overlooks and where seven caves burrow into the cliff walls. One of which, the largest cave, was made accessible by land through a man made tunnel under the direction of retiree and artist Gustauf Schultz. The cave was later named “the Sunny Jim Cave” after a cereal mascot whose profile matched that of the cave opening.

Although those in attendance at the new Safe, Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative (SHNI) meeting Sept. 4 in the La Jolla Library were seeking local solutions to the homelessness they’ve observed in their neighborhoods, they were met instead with broader City- and County-wide resources that address the varied facets of this very complex issue.

Sitting at the Brick & Bell coffee shop in La Jolla Shores on Sept. 4 with local residents Sandra Munson and Tim Johnson as they catch up over iced teas, one would never know that just three weeks prior, the two were undergoing surgery so Munson could donate a kidney to Johnson.